Boulder has already been drenched by about a month's worth of rain in the first days of May, but officials said they don't have major concerns about flooding in the county's burn areas.

Boulder typically averages 2.5 to 3 inches of rain in May. By Thursday night, the city had received 2.34 inches this month, according to meteorologist Matt Kelsch.

More is in the forecast, with afternoon showers possible every day until early next week.

"(Wednesday) night was probably the wettest period," Kelsch said Thursday. "There will be more sunny periods starting Friday, and it will keep the pattern of afternoon showers but they will be fewer and farther between."

During the Wednesday rainstorm, the Boulder County Sheriff's Office responded to several small rock slides, according to Cmdr. Rick Brough.

"There were five to eight throughout the canyons, North St. Vrain, South St. Vrain, Lefthand, Fourmile, Boulder," Brough said. "It was more nuisance-type stuff. Most of the officers were able to move the rocks themselves, though (the Colorado Department of Transportation) responded to a few. It wasn't to the point that they had to close anything down."

Advertisement

Brough said despite the rainfall, officials are not worried about flooding in the Fourmile Fire burn area.

"I wouldn't say it's going to be a problem," Brough said, though he added loose debris would still be a concern. "We're going to have some of the nuisance slides and stuff like that."

With a little less than three years having passed since the Fourmile Fire, he said, the burn area is starting to recover and is not the same flood risk it was in years past. The county this year, for the first time since the fire, elected not to drop mulch over the burn area.

"We've had some growth, and basically when you get the growth back you hold some of the dirt," Brough said.

During rainstorms, officials are still keeping an eye out for debris slides in some of the steeper areas of the canyon, he said.

"There are some canyons where the Fourmile Fire was that have steep walls, and that is still a concern for us," Brough said. "A lot's going to depend on whether the ground is saturated, if a storm stays over the burn area for a while. A lot's going to depend on the type of storms that come through."